Accusations
by TheArchives
Summary: [Serious fic] Sasuke returns after a mission to find that Naruto has been arrested for murder. One shot. No timeline. Sasunaru


**Accusations**

By: Sneaky Cat

Disclaimer: If I were the owner of Naruto, would I bother writing a fanfic about the series?

Rating: PG-13

Pairings: Sasunaru

Warnings: **Shonen-ai**, no timeline, sap, a small dose of angst, slight OOCness, and a complete bastardization of the Konoha police force.

Summary: Sasuke returns after a mission to find that Naruto has been arrested for murder. One shot. No timeline. Serious.

Notes: I have no idea when this takes place. Sometime when Sasuke and Naruto are seventeen. Fit it in wherever you like.

This fic was inspired by a beautiful piece of fanart by the owner of ZigZag. (Regrettably, I do not know this wonderful artist's name as I am unable to translate more than a little bit of Japanese… my kanji is seriously lacking, but her art is beautiful. ) Go take a look at http: zigzag.s13. xrea . com/ maturi 02 / 37 22.jpg and check out the rest of her art at http: zigzag.s13. xrea. com / e. html Because ff. net doesn't seem to link links I have taken out the slashes at the beginning ofeach url and added a few spaces. Also, there should be underscores between maturi and 02, and 37 and 22 in the first url. Please remember fix these if you wish to see the pictures.

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"Did you hear about Isamu-san?"

"Last night wasn't it?

"Yeah, I heard they caught someone." A pair of eyes widened in surprise.

"Who?"

A pause.

"Uzumaki-kun I think."

"No fucking way!"

"I know but-" Hagane Kotetsu and Kamizuki Izumo both jerked their heads up at the sound of an angry growl down the hallway behind them. All they saw was a head of telltale black hair before the door to the Hokage's office slammed shut with a violent crack.

.-.-.-.-

"What the hell is going on here!" Sasuke demanded with an unusual show of frustration. Tsunade, the fifth Hokage, eyed the hands pressing against the surface of her desk before lifting her head to meet her visitor's eyes. The seventeen-year-old Anbu's Sharingan were spinning with wild, uncontrolled anger as he glared down at her.

"Mission report?"

"Later," Sasuke answered with a frustrated growl. "Is it true?"

"I need your report," Tsunade told him firmly.

"Later! What is going on!"

"Your report…"

"Fuck the report!" It was obvious by now that Tsunade would be getting nothing out of Sasuke without allowing his interrogation. Pity, it meant more work for her later. He was the last to report in today, and she had been hoping to finish up early. She was tired, what with everything that had been happening…

"What do you want to know?" she asked him, her face remaining calm and in control… which of course only served to frustrate Sasuke further.

"Is it true that Naruto has been arrested?" Sasuke ground out.

"Ah," Tsunade answered. "One of our Anbu members was found dead last night."

"Then why arrest Naruto?"

"According to the preliminary report, the wounds on the man's body appeared to be very similar if not identical to the Rasengan."

Sasuke froze, the movement of his Sharingan stopping suddenly. The scarlet wheels vanished from his eyes.

"They think Naruto…"

"Ah. There are only two living shinobi who can use the Rasengan. Jiriya has been missing for almost a month."

"But that's impossible!" Sasuke yelled. Tsunade shrugged.

"I would say so as well, but all evidence points against Naruto," she answered him.

"But Naruto couldn't have…"

"I know it's hard to believe…"

"So what? You're not even going to try to prove his innocence?" Sasuke accused. Tsunade looked at him, glared at him really.

"If I could don't you think I would have tried by now?" she asked him. "I can't play favorites with a case like this. It's a murder case yes, but not one that has a high enough priority to warrant my involvement."

"Why not? You're the Hokage, why-"

"If I interrupt a case like this it means I interrupt all cases of this magnitude. It also means that I alienate those who do handle such cases. If I jump into a case like this with no proof to assist me, it is as if my whim decides the fate of the one involved." Tsunade locked eyes with the frustrated young man in front of her.

"I will not become the sort of leader whose whims decide the fate of this village. Once or twice may seem like nothing to you, but if I allow it to happen once, it may happen again. Even a Hokage is bound by the laws of reason."

Sasuke bowed his head, forcing himself to listen to the Hokage's words though his head was screaming for him to just ignore her completely.

"Then you're just going to let them execute him?" he hissed. Tsunade smiled back, just a slight upturn of the lips.

"Not necessarily. I can't act without proof, but…"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "Then you want me to…" Tsunade's small smile turned into an outright smirk.

"Bring me proof, some evidence to suggest Naruto's innocence, and I will do what I can to help."

.-.-.-.-

It was dark when Sasuke made his way down to the holding cells, but even in the dim light he could make out the bright yellow of Naruto's hair.

"Naruto." The yukata-clad figure in the cell perked at hearing his name. Sasuke frowned at the broad smile on the other man's face as Naruto hurried to the bars to greet him.

"Sasuke, you're back from your mission?" he asked. Sasuke nodded a reply, taking the time to look around Naruto's current quarters. The cell was small, dim, and cold, with a hard bed on one side and a cracked sink and toilet on the other.

"Naruto, what happened?" he asked. The blonde followed Sasuke's gaze around his cell, then shrugged as he focused back on the man in front of him.

"Nothing much," he answered. "It'll be fine, they just mistook me for someone else, that's all."

"Naruto, you're being accused of murder," Sasuke told him. Naruto's smile didn't waver.

"I know, but I didn't do it, so no problem," he answered.

"They haven't found anyone else. You're looking at an execution dobe!" Sasuke snarled at him. Naruto said nothing for a moment, his smile unwavering as ever. It disturbed Sasuke, to see Naruto's face like this. He was… happy. Too happy. Far too happy for the emotion to be genuine.

"I'm all right Sasuke," the blonde told him, his voice barely above a whisper. He was still smiling… still smiling that disturbingly cheerful smile, but his eyes were downcast and soft. He looked almost peaceful really, and Sasuke wasn't sure whether to worry more or less.

"You're not alright Naruto," was the Uchiha's strained answer. Naruto looked up at him with wide, surprised, childish eyes, innocence glowing within them. Naruto reached a hand through the bars, cupping the dark haired man's face and smiling softly.

"I'm all right Sasuke," he replied. "Really." Sasuke knew he was lying… could see the hurt behind that sky blue innocence and trust. He knew the blonde was hurting, felt betrayed. Naruto was holding it inside, choosing to lock his pain away rather then allow his friend to worry.

"Naruto please…" Sasuke's voice was nearly begging the blonde, and somewhere in the back of his head the Uchiha was very grateful that the two of them were alone. Naruto was the only one allowed to see him like this, to see him so vulnerable. Naruto was the only one who could make him beg.

"Sasuke."

"Please… don't do this to me." Naruto's smile broke, his eyes turned cold, sad, pained.

"You shouldn't worry about me," he replied. "I'll be all right, really. It's another misunderstanding, that's all." Sasuke's own hand lifted to press Naruto's against his cheek.

"I am worried, dobe…" the name was affectionate, a nickname more than an insult, and Naruto couldn't help but smile a bit at hearing it. "I'm worried," the Uchiha continued. "I'm worried because some sick fuck is trying to get you killed and there's nothing I can do about it."

Naruto gave him a vulpine smile, a smile so forced it was physically painful for Sasuke to watch.

"They won't get me!" the blonde exclaimed, trying to tug his hand back from Sasuke's firm grip. The Uchiha, however, wasn't so keen on letting go. "I'll be fine," Naruto continued. "No one's going to kill the great Uzumaki Naruto, especially not some lowlife resorting to below the belt tricks!"

"Dobe!" That got Naruto's attention. Sasuke yelled, yes, not often, but sometimes. But he never yelled like that… never with his voice so filled with pain and worry. Anger yes, worry never, and pain –that wasn't even an option.

"Sasuke…"

"I'll get you out of here dobe." Sasuke's eyes were fierce, determined, the deep dark pools boring into Naruto's mind and spirit. "I'll get you out of here." It was a promise, a promise echoing deep in Sasuke's eyes and heart. He wasn't going to let his little blonde ray of light die. He couldn't, no matter what.

"Sasuke…" This smile… this one, it was sad, yes, but genuine. Sasuke couldn't help but smile back as the shorter blonde leaned forward. The two met, faces pressed between the bars, lips touching in a chaste, heartfelt kiss –a promise, a sealed bargain of hope between the two of them.

There was something different in Naruto's eyes when they broke away, a tiny flicker of something that Sasuke prayed was hope.

"I know you will…" It was hope. Hope, and trust. And Sasuke knew he couldn't fail. If he did, it would be the last time he would ever see those eyes again.

And the last Uchiha knew that he wouldn't survive without them.

.-.-.-.-

The Konoha police department was a small office near the base of the Hokage's tower. Its employees ranged from genin to jounin level ninja, most of whom either had established families or were no longer on active duty as shinobi. Others were merely using their time there to further their goals of reaching the higher ranks of village status or to gather important personal contacts. Sasuke could remember quite clearly the short period of time his brother had spent in the force, and he could definitely say that the elder Uchiha's motive had been the latter of the two reasons.

Of course, it had also been quite clear that the situation had not been Itachi's personal choice.

Sasuke was greeted by a large number of surprised murmurs and stares upon his entrance into the small building. Apparently the fact that he tended to avoid the department had been widely noticed. He strode confidently up to the small reception desk at the back of the entrance hall and eyed the young woman seated there with a sharp look.

"I'd like to speak to the person in charge of the Uzumaki case," he stated firmly. The woman looked up at him, a slight blush crossing her cheeks before she turned her head back to the open registrar in front of her.

"Officer Asari isn't in right now," she answered him. "Shall I leave a message?" Sasuke shook his head.

"No… when will he be back?"

"Not until tomorrow morning I'm afraid."

"Ah…" Sasuke took the opportunity to eye his surroundings, noting in particular the doors that lead to the private offices and the few people that were in the hall. "Is there an assistant I could speak too?"

The woman flipped through her book again, chewing on the corner of her lip as she searched.

"Yes, Hikaku Akuto, office 713 down the hall."

"Thank you." He turned to leave, not paying the woman any more attention and instead focusing his gaze towards the offices.

_Lucky day!_ "Cute guy!" A thought, and a murmur. Sasuke resisted the urge to twitch at the comment. He had never found the disturbingly common remarks about his looks flattering. What the woman said next though…

"Why is someone looking into the _Uzumaki_ case of all things?"

That comment nearly made him see red. But Sasuke, being the composed man that he was (in public anyways) forced himself to continue down the hall without so much as a backwards glance (or glare) rather than give into the urge to smack the infuriating woman.

.-.-.-.-

Sasuke found the object of his search calmly sipping away at a mug of luke warm tea and leaning back on the stiff chair in his office as he scanned down a somewhat short scroll.

"Hikaku Akuto-san, right?" The man looked up, quickly covering a hint of surprise with a cheery smile.

"Yes?"

"You are assisting Officer Asari on the Uzumaki case are you not?"

A thin eyebrow was raised at the inquiry.

"Ah," was the man's answer. Sasuke moved from the door to stand casually in front of the man's cluttered desk.

"I'd like to see the case file." It closer to a demand then a request. Hikaku's expression was mildly amused, not offended or angry, just… amused.

"May I ask why?" Sasuke's answer was a detached shrug.

"Curiosity," he offered as an answer. "The case interests me." A small upturn of the lips that could almost be considered a smirk added to the amused expression on the assistant's face.

"You are a friend of Uzumaki Naruto, are you not?" Sasuke fought back the scowl that threatened to cross his face. The assistant's amused expression didn't appear to change, but there was a touch of malicious glee in his eyes. "I'm afraid I can't allow that," he told the Uchiha. "Department policy you see."

Sasuke nodded, not liking the man's answer one bit. "Ah," he answered, his face barely betraying his frustration. The dark haired man didn't bother to remain in the office. He left, allowing a frustrated growl to escape as soon as he had left the room. He hadn't missed the triumph in Hikaku's eyes as he left. The man was enjoying Naruto's predicament!

So much for the easy approach. Sasuke wasn't going to give up just yet.

.-.-.-.-

The Uchiha returned the next morning, and was pleased to find Officer Asari himself in the cluttered office rather then his maddening assistant. The somewhat elderly officer smiled warmly at him as Sasuke entered the office once more, quickly moving behind his desk and filing away the precarious armful of papers he was holding.

"How can I help you, Uchiha-san?" he asked, his voice as welcoming as his smile. If anything could have reassured Sasuke, it was the very demeanor of this man in front of him. Maybe he would be more reasonable.

"I was interested in seeing the case file on Uzumaki Naruto…"

"Yes yes," the man nodded, pulling the very scroll Hikaku had been reading through the night before from a corner of the cluttered desk. "Hikaku-kun mentioned you had been by last night. I know he was following policy, but that's bad judgment I told him. When an ANBU wants a case file, you give them the file. Always have a reason they do." Asari grinned widely as he handed the scroll to Sasuke. Just like that. The Uchiha was more than a little overwhelmed by the welcome he was getting. If anything, he had expected Officer Asari to be even more secretive then his assistant. The result, though, was anything but secretive. It was downright reckless.

"Sir?" Sasuke began.

"Shame about the case though," the elder man continued speaking as if he hadn't even heard Sasuke speak. "Uzumaki's been trouble, sure, but I never saw this coming…" Sasuke was tempted to just flat out stare at the man. "You want the autopsy too?"

Sasuke blinked, then nodded dumbly. Rather than a scroll this turned out to be a standard folder. The dark haired ANBU flipped through the file quickly, scanning over the medical findings.

Then he stopped.

"Why did you not question Hatake Kakashi or myself about this case?"

Asari blinked, shaken out of this chattering.

"Uchiha-san?" he asked, honestly surprised. Sasuke turned the folder, holding it under the old man's nose. The man frowned. "Third degree burn abrasions, raised lesions on the skin, extreme heat and pressure…" He looked up. "What do you mean, sir?"

Sasuke scowled. "These wounds could have been caused by any jutsu based off of a controlled concentration of chakra. Kakashi-san and I both use a jutsu very similar to the Rasengan that Uzumaki uses. These abrasions easily could have been caused by our jutsu as well."

Asari leaned back in his seat, thoughtfully tapping his chin.

"I had asked Hikaku-kun to look into possible users of a jutsu of the type you mention. He did not mention you, or Hatake-san." Sasuke's eyes narrowed.

"I must request permission to take these files to the Hokage. It seems that someone is unjustly using the evidence in the case against Uzumaki Naruto."

Asari's thoughtful expression turned into an angered frown.

"If that is the case, then I am deeply sorry. I give you permission to pursue this as you wish, seeing as I have obviously not done as thorough a job as I should have."

"I thank you," Sasuke replied, before nodding to the man and exiting the office with both folder and scroll in his possession.

.-.-.-.-

"Tsunade-sama!" Shizune jumped, then glanced back at her somewhat amused mistress. Tsunade herself was not to surprised to see the Uchiha burst into her office, a folder and scroll in his hands and a glint of excitement in his dark eyes. She grinned at Shizune.

"Can you handle these for a moment?" the blonde woman handed her assistant a tall stack of papers. Shizune herself looked mildly horrified.

"Tsunade-sama…" Tsunade sighed in response, glancing back up at Sasuke. The boy had found something, that much was obvious… glaringly obvious actually. If it had been Naruto she were dealing with in the same situation, the boy would have been rambling his head off already. Then again, if it had been Sasuke in prison someone probably would have ended up in the hospital already… at least. At worst they would have been dealing with another homicide.

Assuming they would have been able to even find the victim. Naruto was thorough… and creative. And if he wanted to get rid of someone, they stayed gone… and so did the evidence. This had been proven by more than enough of the boy's missions. There was a reason he and Sasuke were the best… even if Naruto acted loud and clumsy.

That had been the first thing Tsunade had noticed about this case. But that, unfortunately, was not enough evidence to allow her to act. Hopefully whatever Sasuke was so excited about would give her what she needed.

Shizune exited the office with a silent promise to return shortly and make sure Tsunade was doing _something_. She didn't have to speak. By now Tsunade could read those looks in her sleep.

"You found something?"

Sasuke placed the two items he carried on Tsunade's desk, a small triumphant smirk on his face. For Sasuke though, that meant he was feeling very confident.

Tsunade flipped open the folder first, running through the autopsy report with near terrifying speed. She held it up to the Uchiha heir.

"Have you read this?" Sasuke nodded an affirmative.

"Enough to see something wrong."

Tsunade laughed. "Something wrong you say." A snort of disgust.

"What did you find?" Sasuke asked her impatiently.

Tsunade dropped the folder unceremoniously onto her desk and folded her arms across her chest.

"There is no way _that_ was done by a _real_ Rasengan." Sasuke raised an eyebrow as Tsunade continued. "The ribs were still intact when they examined the body. Even an amateur would have noticed that. Someone here has been fudging evidence."

"Is this what you needed?" Sasuke asked her. A playful grin crossed the Hokage's face.

"This is more than enough." A relieved sigh almost escaped Sasuke's lips, but long practice kept it in check. Tsunade could see the relief in his eyes though. She felt the same. Now, with this, there was a chance to save their precious person.

Sasuke turned towards the door, knowing that Tsunade had a lot of work ahead of her to get Naruto free.

"If you need any help, call me," he told her, and he meant it. Tsunade paused for a moment.

"Sasuke?" The Uchiha stopped a moment. "Thank you."

Sasuke smiled to himself.

"No… thank you."

.-.-.-.-

That night found Sasuke traveling down the dark halls of the Konoha prison once more. He had to see him, had to make sure he was still ok.

Naruto was a bright person, naturally inclined towards optimism, but even he had his limits.

Sasuke found himself standing outside of the darkened cell, a hand wrapped around one of the bars and his eyes searching slowly for the one within. As before, Naruto's bright hair gleamed from the corner of the cell.

He was seated on the hard cot, one knee drawn up to his chin and an arm loosely draped across it. Sasuke couldn't see his face fully, but the expression was solemn… sad.

"Naruto."

The blond looked up, startled out of his (mostly likely) dark thoughts, a small hint of relief in his dulled eyes.

Two days… two days and already Naruto had fallen this far. How it must have hurt him to be betrayed like this by those he so desperately wished to protect. Silent glares and muffled curses were one thing, but for someone to actually attempt to kill him… especially in such an underhanded way…

Again as before, the smaller man bounded over to the bars. But this time his steps were laced, not with excitement, but desperation. He wrapped his own hand around Sasuke's squeezing it like a fraying life line.

Sasuke could only smile back at him, reassurance in his own eyes.

Naruto smiled.

"It'll be all right dobe." The hand on Sasuke's tightened for a moment. Sasuke drew his other hand up to brush a few locks of Naruto's wild hair from his face.

"It's over. You'll be out of here soon."

"Sasuke…" There were tears in Naruto's eyes, tears that would never be shed, but Sasuke could see them all the same. Naruto looked up with him with such a bright smile, a really smile.

Everything was going to be all right. Everything. They would make it just as they always had. This was a difficult obstacle in their path, but they would make it just the same.

.-.-.-.-

Three days after the Fifth Hokage had made her official report to the police bureau concerning the death of Isamu Hakemachi, Uzumaki Naruto was released from prison. Hikaku Akuto was placed on temporary leave and charged with tampering with evidence and malicious intent. Officer Asari Hiroimono was given permission to continue investigating the death of Isamu Hakemachi, though he was placed under close observation. The new evidence had made it clear to many that there were shinobi within the village willing to go to deadly extremes to get what they wanted and the case was placed on top priority, with the pride of the Konoha police force at stake.

For Sasuke and Naruto, the days after Naruto's release were spent quietly and calmly in their shared apartment, reaffirming that, even when faced with overwhelming odds, together they would always come out on top.

Against anyone but each other at least…

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Reviews always welcome.


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